Dragon City
by Katje Kaase
Summary: This is a story about Dragonsnort, a unique character in Devon Pitlor's stories. I have created a background and explanation for his unusual name.


This is the saga of a character in Devon Pitlor's stories of Dragonsnort. He is an enigma and I felt I should do him justice by creating a background and story line, as well as explain his unique name.

Dragon City

By Katje Kaase

Yellow snake-like eyes darted as multi-winged birds and fantastic hoofed animals faded into fleshlike tree bark. A nose ring and huge ear buckles were no longer needed to attract attention. A man - intelligent, wise and loving, gently transformed into a tree. It was "uber-weird, like something out of a fairy tale, all tangled roots and branches drooping and dropping all over the place." The gigantic ash tree now had a life with a brain, a will, organs of its own. And since "pieces of the world never really slept," the inhabitants of the now wooded acres saw a "world that had become electrified with meaning." The tree, a giver of life and dreams, was a supernatural hybrid, part man/part tree, full of magic. The dead, who never go anywhere, now had a resting place, creating a haven for one's entire scope of existence.

It had not always been this way. The man called Dragonsnort was once a tenacious little boy who lived in a desolate land of sand, cacti and a constant sun that tormented and teased the brittle ground. Not much could survive in this world of overbaked sorrow. Dragonsnort was a nickname everyone gave him after a strange and mysterious occurrence transformed the boy named Peter Schmidt to the hellish moniker he now possessed. One would think his oppressive surroundings would subdue any hope for a more vital and meaningful tomorrow but Peter's aspirations lay comatose during his childhood, awaiting a day when they could spring forth. He knew there had to be more to life than his parents' eternal struggle to make a living from nothing. Extracting rattlesnake venom for research was a lucrative business but not an easy path for a young boy to follow. August and Regina Schmidt were not conventional parents and Peter was their resilient offspring.

Peter spent endless days and tremulous nights searching for the allusive rattlesnake with August. Snake venom is a life giving substance. It is deadly on its own, but it is the main ingredient in snakebite antidotes and a wide range of medicines. The venom can be made into a freeze-dried powder. August shipped the venom to research laboratories where they produced drugs for blood clots, diabetes, cancer, burns and many other types of diseases. It was a poisonous task that demanded endless patience, but a potentially most beneficial service. Their son, therefore, was an avid hunter of snakes, fearless and confident, like his father. Regina was no shrinking violet either, becoming quite used to father and son spending time away from their home. She passed her days by reading novels, and creating a persona all her own on the internet. Regina's pseudonym was Cascabel, the Spanish word for rattlesnake. and she was fascinated with the Mayan concept of the rattlesnake as a vision serpent, one that could act as a conduit to the "otherworld."

As a child, she enjoyed stories about ferocious dragons who inhabited the souls of humans, creating a species of virulent, all knowing men. Since modern technology encroached on her life and she had endless hours of time alone, she found an exciting game on the internet called Dragon City. The very name encompassed one of her obsessions so she became addicted to a world where you breed your own dragons in a fantastic universe of magical islands. A Dark Dragon, when combined with a Nature Dragon, became a Rattlesnake Dragon. Her fascination with this game pervaded her life and she conveyed this to her son, Peter, who was already versed in the attributes of rattlesnakes. Story telling at bedtime consisted of fantasies of snakes, dragons and nature. It was a young boy's pleasant perversion - a copious dreamland where imagination controlled Peter's dreams.

A significant event occurred one day as August and Peter trekked through the desert wasteland, searching for snakes to "milk" for venom. The sun, as always, blasted its rays on the two explorers, creating a mist-like mirage. Peter gazed upon what he thought was an emerald, glistening under a huge cactus. Before August could prevent him from touching it, Peter had reached down and grasped the magnificent object, only to discover it was the head of an enormous snake, its body camouflaged in the dry, sorrel sand. It only took a second for the monster to bite Peter, but the venom quickly spread throughout his body. August knew what he had to do, so he swiftly picked up his son and carried him home. Regina, roused from her meditative game playing, also knew they had to counteract the serpent's deadly poison. Peter lie motionless for days, but his dreams created a somnambulant mixture of dragons, snakes, and a mysterious tree, one that seemed to live and breathe as if human. The souls of the dead called to him from the tree, wrapping its branches around their shadowy, naked spirits. As the visions enveloped him, he began to feel an orgasmic sensation deep within his body. It was not of a sexual nature, but still, an orgasm that was beyond any he had felt during masturbation. He had not had the pleasure of experiencing the exquisite coupling with a woman yet in his tender years, but he did understand the intensity and extreme arousal coursing through his body. In the hazy midst of delirium, the snake became a dragon and spoke to him: "you will become what you were always meant to be and you will be a life force of nature, a healing agent for those who wander. There must be a price to pay for this gift, but it is insignificant in terms of the knowledge you will obtain."

After weeks of this constant barrage of enlightened transformation, Peter finally appeared to overcome the venom, much to the delight of his exhausted parents. But, rising from his death-like trance, they noticed peculiar markings on his body, comparable to twisted branches and roots on his legs. His torso, arms and face remained the same, but the lower part of his body was covered in soil, not the harsh, sunbaked sand of their land, but fertile, ebony dirt from elsewhere. Peter continued to assist his father in search of venom but he was cautious, wary now, of things in the midst. As he grew to be a teenager, he felt a pull, a need to leave this land of arid nothingness. He packed his belongings and said goodbye to his aging parents. Being free spirits and unconventional, they understood his desire to explore the world and branch out. Their life had been confining and isolated. Peter felt he had to learn what the dragon in his dream-coma meant and the permanent markings on his legs were always a curiosity. He set off to discover a world that was internalized, but existed on the periphery of his mind. He flew to California, where he met a group of hippies in a band. They all looked like some kind of Metallica and their band name was Death's Messengers. Motorcycles, tattoos and studs distinguished their group. Somehow Peter was drawn to them and they to him. The members were also into drugs, cocaine in particular. Since Peter had never been exposed to euphoric pastimes, except in his dream state, he was more than willing to venture into the band's activities.

He learned to play the drums and snorted cocaine as they traveled from gig to gig. Each member had a moniker that elicited a morbid sense of doom or strangeness: Snakeboy, Slitherhead, Tongueslasher, Vanpireslayer. Peter recalled his dream and came up with Dragon, but he needed a word to complete his name. The guys all chipped in and gave him the last part, "Snort," since that is what they did with the drugs. So, Dragonsnort was Peter's new identity, one that would complete his life as a newly emerged soul. But, he felt he wanted immediate attention, so without giving it a second thought, Peter (a,k.a. Dragonsnort) decided to have his name tattooed on his arm. Multi-winged birds and fantastic hoofed animals were also tattooed on his arms, along with the name of his band on his chest. Nose and navel rings and huge ear buckles completed his new look and he was pleased, Of course, some things done in youth can be regretful as one ages. He would someday learn that there were other ways to gain attention. And as Dragonsnort attained maturity, he discovered another change within his body. It was an impulse that drove him almost to insanity - a need to move to Aristock, a place he had never heard of before.

Dragonsnort boarded a plane and set out for a destination that called to him. When he arrived, he knew exactly where he had to go - almost a force too unyielding, too uncompromising, propelled him there. It was an expanse of property with few trees but a vacant area in the center. He immediately knew what he must do. He stood in the epi-center and felt the branches and roots slowly descend from his legs to the ground beneath him. His body and soul transformed, gently, silently into a tree. His circumference was now more than 30 feet and knowledge of past lives forged its way through his branchlike fingers, veins and capillaries. It was the same erotic feeling he had encountered in his youth when the emerald headed snake's venom coursed through his body. The sensation was addictive, more so than the cocaine he had snorted. Dragonsnort could hear the whispers of the dead as they flocked to his limbs, caressing his skin and breathing through the leaves upon his extended branches. It was here that he learned the meaning of life - he was a combination of man/tree/dragon, a prophecy that was finally fulfilled. The knowledge that poured into him was intense. He learned that this is where he had to be, though he could, at times, become man again, but he would always be linked to that spot, that magical part of him that was meant to be.

By this time he had news that his parents had succumbed to the desolate sun and old age. Dragonsnort was saddened but he knew that they had been happy together and proud of his new found identity. And, after many years, Dragonsnort did become whole again, a human once more. That is when he met Brooke Nescott as he stood outside a funeral for a young boy. He had been drawn to the death of this child, since lost souls were drawn to him. Brooke was more than appealing and, like his need to enter Aristock, a compelling force led him to pursue her. "The morning, the sunrise, belonged as did that of every free day to Dragonsnort." They met and made love at the end of a dock and lingered in the warm feelings that surged in after intimacy. They were both happier than they had been in their lives. The moment was special and it was perfect. Their lives together would be hit and miss, knowing that Dragonsnort had to fulfill his destiny. They had a child, Jared, who resembled his father and was wise beyond his years. Their adventures were numerous, fighting to keep the magical tree from modern technology and suburban renewal, but eventually Brooke took another lover, Eric Palobay, who would create a family for Brooke and Jared when Dragonsnort could not be in human form. Their love for Brooke was accepting and free of jealousy. Brooke and Eric finally bought the expanse of property and fenced it in so Dragonsnort could transform in security and live forever. But, as all things fade and die, Dragonsnort too, began to pass from this realm. But the tree was still standing and "Jared's grandson spotted a leaf growing on a high branch last year before winter." There was an inkling of hope that Dragonsnort was making a return, but if he didn't make it, that was alright. Everything has to die sometime.

"The sun still set in the same place…and its declining rays of penetrating light were just as beautiful, as they illuminated, as in a far-off cameo, a happy couple remembering a dock just before sunrise - and times that few alive could rival in their suspense and intrigue."

June, 2013


End file.
